Tower
by Ruth-Lund
Summary: Foundation series: Book 2 This story has not been abandoned nor is it intentionally on a hiatus. I just have low motivation and inspiration for it right now, but I think about working on it almost every day. I will get the next chapter out as soon as I can.


(**A/N:** I'm going to start out the story with a bit of introduction of the MC for those who are just joining us. It will sum up the major points of Foundation, so you won't be totally lost if you don't read it, but I would definitely recommend going and reading it before starting on this one. For those of you who've read Foundation, the tone is a bit OOC for Hikaru, but there's a reason for that. You know from my author's notes that I have depression, and after some thought I've realized that writing Hikaru as she was by the end of that fic, gloomy and depressed, was hitting too close to home, and having a negative effect on my mood. I know that that's been an integral part of her character for the last half of that fic, and I'm certainly not planning on erasing all of her struggles or issues, but as far as the narrative _tone _(if not content) I want to pull it back closer to how it was in the beginning because I think that will be easier on me and better for my mental health to write. It does pain me some, because I wish I could have the transition in narrative tone be more natural and a result of character growth, but I have to consider my mental health, not just story quality, and I've decided that mental health takes precedence.

**Worldbuilding: **I'm retconning (and will go back and edit...someday) my worldbuilding in Foundation saying that Hikaru would get her seal when she becomes genin. Basically it doesn't make sense to me how if everyone but the clan head and the heir were sealed, which is sorta implied in canon by even the twin brother of the clan head being sealed, there could really _be_ a main family at all. A line of unsealed former, future, and present clan heads does not make sense to make up the entirety of the main family. And there is definitely an extended main family in canon, what with Ko being a member of the main family, and he doesn't fit into that former, future, present line. So, now I'm thinking that it makes more sense if Hizashi were sealed _because he became the head of the branch family_, not that he was sealed and put there because of his position of birth or became sealed for being the younger twin. Rather it was a position he stepped into due to ability and taking on the responsibility, and became sealed because of that. Thus, Hikaru and her descendants can remain unsealed as long as _she_ doesn't become head of the branch family.

**Credit: **The orphan thing, and implications thereof, is lifted from Vixen Tail's Deja vu no Jutsu. Used with permission.)

Sunlight streamed in through the windows of the classroom, falling on students who all looked both attentive and nervous. Today was the day that would determine their fates. Today was the day they would either become ninja, or fail. Well, all except two. I took a peek at Nara Shikamaru where my head rested in my arms and he looked as bored as ever. And me? I was half napping as I waited my turn.

Who am I? Hyūga Hikaru, twin sister to Hyūga Hinata. I'm twelve years old (physically). I've had a rough life so far, and that's putting it mildly. When I was three years old The Kidnapping Incident by Kumo was partially successful, the enemy-nin got us and almost got away and I lost my left eye before being rescued. Then when I was five, Danzo took an interest in me, having discovered my past as a reincarnation who knew about possible future events from a TV show called "Naruto." He kidnapped me and forced me into ROOT after I told him (under duress) that he would become Hokage one day. Five years later, after the joint efforts of the Hyūga and Uchiha clan to get to the bottom of the corruption in Konoha's underbelly, Danzo was executed and I was rescued. I was stuck into ANBU for a while to help me transition a bit into normal (or more normal) Konoha life, and then stuck into school for the last year of the ninja academy in order to become an official Konoha shinobi.

It was very boring. My issues with fatigue and chakra were solved through meditation and therapy with Inoichi, so in terms of technique, body conditioning, experience, chakra amount, and jutsu knowledge and usage I was far, far ahead of all of my classmates. What made it worse was that I not only had to pretend that I wasn't, but I had to pretend that I was worse off than my classmates, as they all thought I'd been kidnapped and held in a little room for five years. Well, not necessarily the little room bit, but the point was none of them knew or could know that I'd received any ninja training while I'd been "gone." So I slept through class, tanked a lot of my tests, and tried very, very hard to be clumsy while sparring. That last bit was by far the most difficult, and more than a few times I'd had Hinata seal up my major tenketsu points in the bathroom before the class sparred just so that I could be more handicapped. By the end of the school year I was sitting comfortably at "dead last" and not particularly happy to be there. Oh, I would graduate anyway, that was certain. Konoha would snatch me straight back into ANBU even if I didn't pass one of the team tests, but it had been a slog of a year and I didn't like the way the rest of the class looked at me-not because of their scorn, but their lack of faith. I knew they were all-with the exception of Hinata and Naruto (because they were both sweethearts), and possibly Sasuke (who knew I was acting)-hoping that I would be on someone else's team so that I wouldn't drag them down and possibly get them killed. It wasn't going to change much after I graduated either, unless I was placed on a team that only had people who knew my secret, which would be a miracle. I would have to play at being mediocre at best. However, it was all bearable since I knew I didn't want to be a ninja for very long anyway. As soon as I could I'd take a non-field role, or retire entirely if I could.

The only highlight of the school year had been my friends. Hinata, Naruto (and, by extension, Sasuke), Ino and eventually Sakura had always supported me and buoyed me up when I was feeling down. In return I was ready to protect any one of them to the best of my abilities, up to and including my life. They made my life worth living and I couldn't imagine life without them.

"Hyūga, Hinata!" Iruka called out.

"Finally." I grumbled, shoving my chair back and striding to the testing room. The demonstration of jutsus took only a minute or so, although Iruka looked concerned as he handed over my headband. No wonder, from his perspective I was the worst student he had, and he probably wondered if I would really be able to take care of myself. Still, he gave me a polite "Congratulations" and let me go. I tied my headband on my right arm near my shoulder, where my ANBU tattoo was hidden by my elbow length sleeves. It would provide a little more protection against clothing damage and would help me keep my secret intact.

Naruto had gotten a lot more help studying from Ino and Sakura than he had in the original timeline, although he still hated it and would always prefer practical exercises. In any case, he was in the middle of the academic pack now, but he still failed due to his inability to make a passable clone. I felt bad for him, but I didn't worry overly much because I knew exactly how tonight would turn out.

True to my predictions he was there the next day with the rest of the class, headband proudly situated on his forehead.

"Congrats." I said, and then, with a sly grin and because I couldn't help myself, "I knew you could do it."

"Congratulations Naruto-kun." Hinata said, looking very much like she wanted to hug him but holding herself back and poking her fingers together instead. I eyed her contemplatively. Then I threw my arm around Naruto's shoulder and pulled Hinata in.

"Group hug!" I crowed. Hinata turned beet red but didn't pull away. It was a nice little moment, but a moment was all it was.

"Say, Naruto," a voice drawled, and we all pulled apart, "how did you get a headband, anyway?" Shikamaru was looking at him in interest.

"That's what I was about to ask!" Kiba piped up, giving a fanged grin. "I can't believe they let a loser like you have a headband." In another world, those words might've been sincere, but Kiba was being sarcastic.

Naruto made a face at the Inuzuka boy, "You're one to talk." He shot back. Then he looked sheepish and scratched the back of his head. "I can't really talk about it."

"Who do you want to be in a team with?" I asked, changing the subject.

Naruto's eyes brightened. "Ooh, um, you and Sakura-chan and Hinata-chan," his brow furrowed "but I can only pick two of you, or only one of you I guess since Sakura-chan said that teams with two girls in it are rare." He looked over at Sakura, but she was talking with Ino and didn't notice.

I laughed and grinned, "Well, whoever you're with we can always still hang out between missions."

"Alright kids, in your seats." Iruka called out as he entered the room. Everyone quickly broke out of the groups they were in and found seats, becoming completely quiet. My eyes widened a bit because Sai had followed Iruka into the room and stood beside him in the front.

"We had a bit of a shortage this year, one of the teams would've been left with two members, so we pulled Sai here from a class that had one extra. Introduce yourself, please."

Sai smiled faintly. "My name is Sai. Please take good care of me." He bowed.

"Thank you," Iruka said "have a seat."

The team assignments went as expected until Team 7.

"Team 7 will be Sai, Hyūga Hikaru, and Uzumaki Naruto."

"Yes!" Naruto thrust his fist into the air.

At first glance it looked like we were a team destined for failure. I was "dead last," Naruto was considered mediocre and had failed the test, and while Sai was mostly unknown to this class I knew he had most likely underplayed his abilities as well in the class he'd been placed in. However, I knew that we would be anything but. Two ROOT agents turned ANBU turned Genin, and a jinchuriki? The world wasn't going to know what hit them. It was an odd mix of skills though. Teams generally had a specialization, and we would be well geared toward stealth, sabotage, and assassination if Naruto hadn't been thrown into the mix.

And then there was a Team 11.

"Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, and Takahashi Hotaka." I looked at the guy in interest. Hotaka wasn't someone who I'd ever paid much attention to, all I knew was that his father was a doctor (he complained about his dad making him learn medical stuff all the time) and he really, really, really liked swords.

We were dismissed for lunch, and told to be back in an hour to meet our sensei.

"Hey Hikaru! Let's have lunch together!" Naruto burst out.

"Sure," I agreed easily, "let me invite Sai."

"Oh yeah," Naruto squinted at where he was still sitting at the front. "Who is that guy anyway? I don't think I've seen him before."

He followed me as I went over to Sai. "The classes are pretty big," I offered, "you probably just didn't notice him." I knew that Sai had only attended school for the past 6 months, and his cover story was that he was an orphan from a remote village and had received a little training from his retired ninja parents. If Naruto hadn't seen him yet, it was only because he hadn't been paying attention to the other classes. I knew that Ino had noticed him, and had sighed over his tragic past. If only she knew. Actually, it was better that she didn't.

"Hello Sai." I greeted him. "We're your teammates; Hyuga Hikaru and Uzumaki Naruto." I said, gesturing at each of us in turn. He gave me a slight, but genuine smile.

"Pleased to meet you." He said. "I'm Sai."

That done, I invited him to eat with us and he accepted. On our way to Ichiraku Ramen (of course) he said, apropos of nothing. "You both need nicknames. I think I'll call you Cyclops."

I burst out laughing. I knew he wasn't talking about the X-Men, but the thought of shooting a red laser beam out of my eye was too amusing. Cyclops was a loose translation anyway, what he had really said was Hitotsume-kozō, a type of yokai that looks like a one-eyed, bald child. It wasn't a very flattering image, although that was typical for Sai. "If you want." I giggled, "but I'm not certain it really fits."

Naruto harumphhed, "Hikaru is too cute to be a cyclops."

"It's too long for a nickname anyway." I informed Sai.

His brow furrowed in thought. "What about Kasa-obake?" This was another yokai, a one-eyed umbrella monster. I hid a smile underneath my hand and shook my head.

"You're really stuck on monsters, huh? Why not just call me yokai?"

Sai smiled, but it was one of his false ones, and I could tell he was anything but happy with my suggestion. "If you want, although I'm not certain you deserve that." I realized his point. The two yokai he had suggested were relatively harmless, but there were a lot of very malicious yokai in stories. I'd been one of his "friends" in ROOT, or at least I'd watched him draw frivolous things and hadn't reported it to Danzo. Telling him to call me "Monster," well, I could see why he was uncomfortable with it.

"Are you saying I'm not mysterious or bewitching enough?" I waggled my eyebrows in a deliberate attempt to lighten the mood. It worked, his smile relaxed a bit into something more natural. I grinned, "You could just call me 'eyepatch.' Although, nicknames don't _need_ to focus on a physical feature, you know. Why don't you think about it some more when we know each other better." My grin turned into a smirk. Sai knew me plenty well, of course, but Naruto couldn't know that.

Naruto hmmed. "I want a scary nickname, one that lets everyone know immediately that I'm the best ninja they've ever met."

Our conversation paused as we arrived at the ramen stall and took our orders. Teuchi placed a bowl in front of Naruto lickety-split, obviously anticipated that he was going to order five or six.

"Hey," Naruto said, after he'd inhaled his first bowl of ramen, "what's my nickname?"

Sai stared at him, head slightly tilted, considering for a moment. "Sunshine."

Naruto's brow furrowed. "Hey! That isn't scary at all!"

"Why 'Sunshine'?" I asked.

"His hair." Sai said.

"I said I wanted something scary."

"I don't know about that, Naruto," I said seriously, "sunshine is pretty dangerous. Too much of it kills you."

Sai nodded. "It's true. There's heat stroke, dehydration, cancer..." he trailed off.

"Not to mention the sun might blow up in a couple billion years and destroy the entire planet." I continued.

Naruto wrinkled his nose. "Now you're just making stuff up. Besides, all that stuff is really slow, I want something immediately scary."

"I rather like 'Sunshine,'" I said, "but if you won't go for it, what about 'Hero'?"

"That isn't very scary either," Naruto said slowly, thinking it over, "but I like it."

I smiled at him. "'Hero' it is then!" It fit him perfectly.

000

After lunch, we had a long wait before Sensei showed up, of course, and when he entered and got bopped on the head by an eraser he just looked at us and let out a big sigh. He knew about Sai and my background, and obviously trying to intimidate Sai and I by telling us he didn't like us wasn't going to work, and Naruto would just brush that sort of thing off, so instead of saying his opening line about first impressions he just said "Meet me on the roof in five minutes," and disappeared.

"He's lame!" Naruto complained as we left the room.

"He actually isn't." Sai said. "He became a Jonin when he was twelve."

"Well, now he's an old geezer." Naruto said. I had to suppress a smile. Even with grey hair, Kakashi didn't look _that_ old. Of course even if you didn't consider his hair, a twelve year old would think being twenty-six years old was old anyway when it really wasn't.

We settled ourselves in front of Kakashi and he told us to introduce ourselves. Naruto went first.

"I like ramen and my friends! I dislike people who pick on others and people who are lame. My dream is to become Hokage-dattebayo!"

Then Sai spoke "I like drawing and momen tofu. I dislike mitarashi dango and..." he hesitated, thinking, "people who don't value their comrade's lives. My dream is to be a good shinobi and create a manga series."

My turn. "I like my friends, writing poetry, and sweet foods. I dislike..." a lot of things, being controlled is at the top of the list, tied by being tortured. Those things were too heavy for an introduction like this, and I wasn't allowed to mention the torture anyway. "...people who hurt my friends. My dream is to become a poet."

Kakashi hmmd in acknowledgement. "Right. Well, meet me tomorrow at 10am at the mission desk."

That was a bit surprising. I'd assumed that Kakashi would have us run through the bell test. Even though Sai and I had the concept of teamwork down flat, Naruto's tendency to charge headlong into things was still strong, despite Sakura, Hinata and Ino's moderating influence. I would have expected Kakashi to want to make a point to Naruto. After all, he'd had no problems focusing on one student's needs (even to the extent of neglecting his other students) in canon. Weird.

Sensei was about to teleport away (body flicker, close enough) but I grabbed him by the arm. "Hold on," I said "you're forgetting something."

He looked down at me, visible eye narrow. "What?"

"Explaining to these two," I pointed a thumb back over my shoulder, "how jonin-sensei orphan guardianship works."

Sai might already know, it was a toss up. It depended on how thorough his lessons on the village's inner workings in ROOT were; it hadn't been mentioned to me there. I knew about it because as the second daughter to the Hyūga clan head I got taught about all sorts of minutiae. Naruto definitely didn't know.

Kakashi suddenly looked extremely awkward. "Oh. Right." I wasn't sure if he'd actually forgotten, or if he'd been trying to ignore the responsibility. He looked beyond me to the two boys.

"I'm now your legal guardian until you're sixteen. Anything you need one for, such as co-signing a rental agreement, you'll bring to me. If I'm not available, for some reason, you'd take it to Hiashi-sama, as teammate's parents can also fill in. Or, Jiraiya-sama, since he's Naruto's godfather, _or _because Jiraiya-sama is an orphan and had a jonin-sensei guardian when he was young, to _his _former jonin-sensei, Hiruzen-sama, since the connection tends be used even after it stops being official."

There was a pause as the boys processed the information.

"I see." Sai said.

"That means Kakashi-sensei is like your dad, and Hokage-sama is like your grandpa" I supplied helpfully for Naruto, who didn't look like he'd quite made the connection yet.

He looked poleaxed. "W-what? I have a _dad_? And a _grandpa? And it's _gramps?"

Yeah, that had been amusing to realize, that the Hokage probably let Naruto get away with the informality of calling him jii-san because he sorta _was_, his orphan former student being Naruto's godfather.

"I- I have a _dad_."

"That isn't-" Kakashi was cut off by being tackled by Naruto.

"Congrats, sensei, it's a healthy boy." I said drily, to the sounds of Naruto sobbing messily into Kakashi's flak jacket. Sai brought a hand up to his mouth to stifle a laugh.

Kakashi sighed, having mostly resigned himself to his fate, and patted Naruto gingerly on the back. "I'm not really your dad, you know, just your legal guardian."

"But you're _like _my dad, which means you pretty much are." Naruto choked out.

Kakashi glared at me. _This is all your fault._

I looked back, amused. _It really isn't. And it's _your _mess, either way._

I had to admit, while the responsibility would've been Kakashi's whether or not I brought it up today, it was very satisfying to see him squirm. I would totally count this as payback for him poking his nose into my past over a year ago and then forcing me to confront him about it, whether the situation was ultimately my doing or not.

000

After a month of D-ranks Naruto demanded a C-rank mission. "Here we go," I thought, as Hiruzen-sama considered the three of us.

"As it just so happens, I have a C-rank here that might suit you." He said. He reached into his desk and pulled out a scroll. "It's a courier mission, to a border control outpost."

Somehow, I managed to keep my eyebrows from shooting up my forehead. It was left to Sai to keep Naruto from complaining about the "lame mission" ("It's outside the village, Naruto, and we might run into bandits. It's still better than D-ranks") as I recovered from my surprise.

A number of things determined mission rank, not only the expected danger level. Time and manpower were two other big factors. This mission was probably rated C mostly for the time involved running all the way to the border and back, plus possibility of bandits, of course.

I should have expected this, actually. I'd told Inoichi-sama about the Land of Wave mission and doubtless he'd told the Hokage. Hiruzen wasn't going to send a team that contained an inexperienced jinchuuriki out on a mission like that, especially since in one universe it had resulted in Naruto unleashing some of the nine-tailed chakra, even if Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke had ended up alright in that universe. I wondered who was going to get Tazuna's mission.

As we were leaving the Hokage tower, Kakashi-sensei spoke. "Naruto, do you know how to pack for a long mission?"

"Yeah, of course!" He said.

"Sa, that's good." Kakashi said, not sounding quite like he believed him. "I'd like to show you some tricks my sensei taught me. So, come with me. I trust you two will be fine?" That last was directed at Sai and me.

"Hai, sensei." Sai said as I nodded.

Yeah, focusing on one student's needs. This was justified though, since Sai and I were well beyond Naruto's level (at least for now, after he could draw on the Kyubi we'd be left in the dust) and Kakashi could trust us to do our thing while he made certain Naruto was up to scratch. I was just glad he _was _focusing on Naruto instead of foisting him off onto Ebisu or someone else. If part of the reason he'd neglected Naruto in-canon was due to the reminder of his long-missed sensei, it didn't seem to be a problem here. Or, at least, Kakashi must be working through it. Sensei left with Naruto in tow, and Sai and I split up soon after, him heading towards his subsidized genin apartment, and I to the Hyuga clan compound.

When I got home I slid the door open and toed my shoes off. "Tadaima!"

Hinata came into the entryway from the hallway leading to our rooms. "Welcome home!" She came up and gave me a hug. She always hugged me when I came back, a little reminder of how grateful she was to see me after I'd been "away" for 5 years. I buried my face into her shoulder, my eyes shut. I sighed, staying in the hug a second or two longer than usual, and then pulled away. Hinata wasn't going to like the news I brought.

Hinata's pale eyes blinked. "Something wrong?"

"No, but my team got assigned our first C-rank. We'll be gone for a couple of weeks."

"Oh." Hinata's face fell. Understandably, she _really _didn't like the thought of me being away for a long period of time.

"It'll be okay." I reassured her, "it's just a run to a couple of the border outposts and back. Nothing me, Sai, Naruto and Kakashi can't handle."

"I know," she said, "it's just ... "

She would miss me. "I know." I said.

I felt a bit guilty. I wouldn't really have the same problem in reverse, (I was certain I would think about her, and wonder how her day was going, yet I wouldn't be all that bothered by the time away from her) but then, a) all my emotions had been really messed with by my time in ROOT, and b) I was mentally 32 years old and more independent than my 12 year old twin. I had to cut myself some slack for the emotional imbalance. It was just that I was tempted to automatically judge the depth of my emotional connections to someone, say ... how much I loved them, in proportion to other related emotions, i. e. how much I missed them while I was away from them. Meaning, that if I didn't miss someone very much, that must mean I didn't love them very much, which made me feel guilty, because Hinata was literally the sweetest person and I wanted to give her all the love she deserved. However, my brain was stupid and lying to me, because while the amount that you miss someone is _one _indicator of depth of love, it certainly isn't the _only _one and I knew I loved Hinata plenty, that love simply didn't manifest in that area. Knowing that didn't completely stop the automatic guilt I felt, but it did help me ignore it.

It figures that one of the emotions that came back to me strongly was guilt, but it was actually a positive indicator of my ability to care again, so there was that to think about and be grateful for too.

Hinata sighed, and then pulled herself upright and gave me a determined look. "Come back safely alright?"

I nodded. "I will."

I went to go tell Hiashi and found him in his office.

"Oh, Neji-kun got a C-rank today as well."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, to the Land of Waves." He raised an eyebrow at me.

"Ah." I said. That was … brilliant really. Gai alone would be a match for Zabuza, and I was pretty certain Lee would be able to match Haku for speed. Neji's Heavenly Rotation would take care of the senbon easily, and Tenten would be great at helping deal with Zabuza, his clones, and Haku with her arsenal. A smile formed on my lips. "That's perfect."

"If your information is reliable this time."

"If it's reliable." I agreed, smile dropping off. The last major event I had tried to prevent was Hinata and my kidnapping, but since we'd been born prematurely and I hadn't taken that into account, I'd gotten the timing off. On top of that, the kidnapping hadn't been at night, but in broad daylight, and the Kumo nin had managed to take my left eye and ended up destroying it before we were rescued.

A lot of things could happen differently.

I could just trust that Hiruzen-sama had given Gai all the information he knew about what might happen on the mission and hope for the best. I could, but I wasn't in the habit of trusting authority figures anymore.

I went and found Neji packing.

"Hey, Neji."

"Yes, Hikaru?"

"I heard you're going to the Land of Waves. I thought you should know, Momochi Zabuza was last seen headed in that direction with a boy rumored to have Ice Release, and be able to perform jutsus one-handed. My info is a year out of date, but I took note of it at the time and it might end up being relevant."

After my lack of information messing everything up so badly last time, I _did _try to get as much independent confirmation on information about people and events as I could. The information I found on Zabuza and Haku while I was in ANBU had at least matched up to what I remembered about the tv show. Neji would know the significance of the info being a year old, since just about everyone in the Hyūga clan knew that I'd done a stint in ANBU that ended a year ago.

"I see." Neji eyed me thoughtfully. "Do you know anything about their specific techniques or fighting styles?"

I told him all I could. It wasn't foolproof, Neji and his team might not seriously expect to run into The Demon of the Mist and his sidekick even with the warning, and but a little heads up couldn't hurt. On the other hand, there wasn't a 100% guarantee that they'd end up fighting them or even _see _them, so the information might not be needed. Either way, I felt better that I'd let Neji know what he might be getting into. He'd tell his team, and they'd all be on the look-out.

Now to go pack for my own mission.


End file.
